Last week, Delray Beach lost a police chief and got a budget warning from the fire chief.
Russ Mager resigned Wednesday, one day after this blog reported on an email from him to City Manager Terrence Moore warning of staff shortages because the city and the police union have not agreed on a new contract and officers are leaving. Moore named Assistant Chief Darrell Hunter the interim chief.
Also Wednesday, Fire Chief Ronald Martin informed Moore and the firefighters’ union that he “has made the difficult decision” to reduce “daily minimum staffing” from 33 to 29. Martin said it would take effect Oct. 1, the start of the budget year. Martin explained that meeting the “contractually required 42-hour workweek has presented both operational and fiscal challenges.” He called Delray Beach’s financial outlook “bleak” because of “economic instability” at state and national levels.
Both topics will converge today when the city commission holds the last budget workshop meeting before Moore presents his proposed 2025-2026 financial plan. Reaction on both fronts, though, came immediately.
During Tuesday’s regular meeting, Mayor Tom Carney and Commissioners Juli Casale and Thomas Markert again defended the city’s offer to the union. They said it would increase pay and benefits by roughly $5 million a year for three years. They have blamed the union, which declared an impasse in February, for the lack of a contract since the old one expired last September.
Casale and Markert seemed more concerned, however, that Mager’s email became public. “It wasn’t fair,” Markert said. Email communication among city employees is public record. “It was a blog,” Casale said; she has received support from city-oriented blogs.
Casale also said of the commission, “We aren’t negotiators.” Though labor lawyers advise them, the mayor and commissioners do decide contract proposals.
Markert said of the dispute, “It’s causing me to not sleep at night, and I don’t like that.” The commission at first wanted to schedule a presentation for today to give their side to the public. They then realized the problem with that idea, since the city is awaiting recommendations next month from a magistrate appointed to help the two sides reach a solution.
Without a contract, Mager warned, the city soon could be down 25 officers. Casale wanted to know if any officers have been hired but are still being processed.
A spokeswoman said the city expects two officers from the July police academy class and three from the November class. “We are currently processing eight additional applicants who are in various stages of the hiring process.” Even when the department is fully staffed, however, it can take a year before new officers have enough training to go on road patrol.
Which brings us to. . .
Issues with Delray Beach Fire
Fire department staffing. The union blasted Martin’s decision but blamed the administration and the commission.
According to the union, Moore had said that implementing the three-year contract that took effect this year would cost $10 million a year, when the actual figure is $2 million. The union also cited the decision by Carney, Casale and Markert to approve a no-new-taxes, revenue-neutral budget for this year.
“It would be naïve to think,” the union said, “that (Martin’s decision) did not come from above.” Carney, the union said, “has been the most vocal proponent of cutting rescue services.” The email said, “Politics must dictate how service is delivered,” calling it “a calculated abandonment of responsibility.”
Moore responded with a statement saying that the city “remains committed to delivering the highest level of public safety to our residents. We deeply respect and value the service of our firefighter-paramedics and the essential role they play in protecting our community.”
Moore said budget discussions have just begun. “As part of this process, we are reviewing every department closely to ensure long-term fiscal responsibility while maintaining the high-quality services our residents expect and deserve. No final decisions regarding staffing adjustments or budget reductions have been made at this time.”
Though the commission has held several budget workshop meetings, today’s is the most important. Police and fire make up more than half of the operating budget. Commissioners will have to make their priorities clear for both departments. I’ll have more after the meeting.
Boca Raton’s next city manager
A search committee has recommended eight semi-finalists to succeed George Brown as Boca Raton city manager.
Two are current deputy city managers—Jorge Camejo and James Zervis. Two others also are from Florida: Shaun Gayle is assistant city manager in Miramar, southwest of Fort Lauderdale, and Treasa Stubbs was city manager in Lauderdale Lakes until March. According to the minutes of the March 11 meeting, the city council approved the “departure of the city manager.” But also, according to the minutes, a quorum was not present. The search firm provided no explanation.
The four out-of-staters are Sonia Alves, the city manager in Edison, N.J.; Harry Black, the city manager in Stockton, Calif.; Eric Bracking, assistant city manager in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.; and David Fraser, interim manager of Adams County, Col.
Though the original schedule called for city council members to conduct interviews Aug. 28, the search firm recommends an “accelerated” schedule to keep candidates from accepting other jobs. Eighty-one people applied, but the search firm concluded that only 12 had the necessary “scope of experience” for Boca Raton.
Council members likely will set the schedule at tonight’s meeting. I’ll have more after.
Approving a plan for downtown Boca
Also before the Boca Raton City Council tonight is approval of the interim master plan with Terra/Frisbie for the massive downtown redevelopment project. The staff recommends approval. I’ll have a report for Thursday.
Parking at Boca Raton’s beaches
Another item on the agenda would create a parking zone for Boca Raton’s three oceanfront parks—Spanish River, Red Reef East and South Beach—as part of a plan to “modernize” the parking system.
According to the memo from Brown, the “gatehouses” at these parks are part of an outdated system that leads to long lines, especially on weekends. The city plans to eliminate those structures and go to a license plate recognition system, as has been implemented at Red Reef West, which services the Alan Alford Golf Course.
The change will affect only day-trippers. Those with annual permits will park as usual, “preserving convenience” for them, as Brown put it. The memo makes no mention of fees. The item is on the consent agenda, but a council member might ask to pull it from the agenda for more discussion.
Recognizing a local hero
A very nice thing happened Monday in Delray Beach.
U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel led a delegation to name the U.S. Postal Service facility on South Military Trail after Benjamin Ferencz. In 2022, Ferencz received the Congressional Gold Medal for his work prosecuting Nazis after World War II. Ferencz, who died two years ago at 103, was a longtime resident of Kings Point, the retirement community in West Delray.
Frankel, who represents the area, noted the timeliness of the recognition. Last month, two staffers at the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. were fatally shot near a Jewish museum. This month, a man used a makeshift flamethrower to injure 12 people who had gathered in Boulder, Col., to call for the release of Jewish hostages in Gaza.
Active shooter drills at FAU
Florida Atlantic University’s police department wants the public to be aware that officers today will start holding twice-weekly active shooter drills on the Boca Raton campus with their city law enforcement counterparts. The sessions will last from 1 until 7 p.m. They will take place every Tuesday and Thursday until July 29. For more information, email faupd@fau.edu.
